The Taiwan professional baseball league kicked off its 31st season over the weekend but instead of playing to an empty stadium, one team decided to fill the bleachers with mannequins and cardboard cutouts of fans.
The worst of the coronavirus has spared the island and sports leagues have continued to play however, in an effort to contain the virus, spectators have been banned from stadiums.
Determined to play in front of an audience, the Rakuten Monkeys from Taiwan's northern Taoyuan City filled the stadium with cardboard cutouts and mannequins wearing team jerseys and even face masks,
The Washington Post reported.
The game was rained out but at least the team got to share a few moments with its "supporters." Real-life fans meanwhile, were cheering from the safety of their homes after Taiwan's president, Tsai Ing-wen, urged the island to back their teams by watching the game on TV.
"What’s more important is once the epidemic is over, we’ll see each other at the baseball pitch!" she said.
Sporting events across the world have been canceled amid the coronavirus outbreak and the Taiwan baseball league was the first to play. It encouraged people to support all upcoming games.
"We welcome everyone to follow the new 2020 season and to relax from their tense lives because of the outbreak," the league said in a statement cited by The Washington Post.
There have been less than 400 confirmed cases of the virus and just six fatalities among the 23 million people in Taiwan. As a result, the island has not had to cancel all its sporting leagues. Players will take part in 240 games spread across Taiwan but fans remain banned from stadiums.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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